W. D. Lighthall

“ ALL HAIL TO A NIGHT. All hail to a night when the stars stand bright
Like gold dust in the sky;
With a crisp track long, and an old time song,
And the old time company.
Cho.—All hail to a night when the Northern Light
A welcome to us waves,
Then the snowshoer goes o'er the ice and the snows,
And the frosty tempest braves.
The snowshoer's tent is the firmament;
His breath the rush of the breeze.
Earth's loveliest sprite, the frost queen at night,
Lures him silvery through the trees.
Yes, the snowshoer's queen is winter serene,
We meet her in the glade. ”

“ More bright than starry hosts appeared that vision in the wood
And flashed and flew like fire-flies in a nightly solitude,
A maze of silver stars, a dance of diamonds in the day:
Through many lives though fly my soul as on that pulsing train,
That sparkling dawn shall oftentimes enkindle it again. ”

“ Grey nations felt thee o'er them tower;
Some clothed thee in fantastic dress;
Some thought thee as the unknown Power,
I, e'er the unknown Loveliness.
To all, thou wert as harps of joy;
To bard and sage their fulgent sun:
To priests their mystic life's employ;
But unto me the Lovely One.
Veils clothed thy might; veils draped thy charm;
The might they tracked, but I the grace;
They learnt all forces were thine Arm,
I that all beauty was thy Face.
Night spares us little. Wanderers we. ”

“ This should true soul endure, though everlasting—
But then, besides, we know that One has mercy."
TO A FELLOW-STUDENT OF KANT. The sweet star of the Bethlehem night
Beauteous guides and true,
And still, to me and you
With only local, legendary light.
For us who hither look with eyes afar
From constellations of philosophy,
All light is from the Cradle; the true star,
Serene o'er distance, in the Life we see.
TO THE SOUL. AN ODE OF EVOLUTION O lark aspire! ”

“ Of Phoebus' and of Phoebe's flight—
Are but the dull varieties
Of ruined night and ruined day;
They bring no pleasure to mine eyes,
For I have sent my soul away.
I am the man who cannot love,
Yet once my heart was bright as thine,
The suns that rove, the moons that move,
No longer make its chambers shine ”

“ A question hard requested me to solve:
"How can man's love be great and be eternal
If Right forewarns he may be called to leave it:
Whether should Love rule Duty and be all,
Or Duty turn his back on sweet Love crying?" ”

“ A brain to throb, a heart to burn;
But that which Jesus' blood can save,
Which looks toward eternal day,
Is gone before me to the grave.—
It was my soul I sent away.
The past is past, and o'er its woe
It is no comfort to repine ”

“ O Life and flying Unity
Of Loveliness! Must man despair
Forever in his chase of thee!
When snowy clouds flash silver-gilt,
Then feel I that thou art on high!
When fire o'er all the west is spilt,
Flames at its heart thy majesty. ”

“ Virtue alone revives beyond the grave."
[Footnote A: "Every man is born dead in sin. Virtue alone brings life eternal."]
STANCHEZZA. EARLY LINES Lo Zephyr floats, on pinions delicate,
Past the dark belfry, where a deep-toned bell
Sways back and forth, Grief tolling out the knell
For thee, my friend, so young and yet so great.
Dead—thou art dead. The destiny of men
Is ever thus, like waves upon the main
To rise, grow great, fall with a crash and wane,
While still another grows to wane again,
Dead—thou art dead. ”

“ Noting each tree and herb and grain;
Each bird that flutters through the leaves,
Each beast, each fish that green lake cleaves,
The curious deeds Devotion paints
In missals and in lives of saints,
And every olden subtle trick
Of grammar, logic, rhetoric. ”

“ The height, the fynial of my aim
Is to be worthy of her name.
CLOUD
You mortals are a curious race—
More whirled by passions, hot in chase
Of passions, than myself am whirled
When tempests tug me o'er the world ”

“ Shining mast-high o'er all oceans;
In the name of France the glorious;
In the world-proud name of Europe;
Whence you draw your great traditions;
I adjure you trust your country!
By all noble thoughts of manhood;
By the toil of your forefathers;
By their sacrifices for you;
By the Loyalist tradition;
And your own heart's generous instincts;
I adjure you be Canadian.
II. "Is there a place, a work, a rank
Our Canada is called to fill:—
She has but struggled till she sank
Hers is it but to toil and till:
No seat among the peoples ours."—
So speaks the Tempter in our bowers. ”

“ O'er many a lovely landscape bright,
It is their waking utterance grand,
The great refrain "A NATIVE LAND!"—
Thine be the ear, the sight.
(1882.)
NATIONAL HYMN. To Thee whose smile is might and fame,
A nation lifts united praise
And asks but that Thy purpose frame
A useful glory for its days.
We pray no sunset lull of rest,
No pomp and bannered pride of war;
We hold stern labor manliest,
The just side real conqueror.
For strength we thank Thee: keep us strong,
And grant us pride of skilful toil ”

“ Their heads superb!—the dream, it is my native land.
[Footnote A: "Sovra'l bel fiume d'Arno la gran villa."—Dante.]
O DONNA DI VIRTU! (DANTE—INFERNO, CANTO I.) "O mystic Lady; Thou in whom alone
Our human race surpasses all that stand
In Paradise the nearest round the throne! ”

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THOUGHTS, MOODS AND IDEALS Crimes of Leisure
by
W.D. LIGHTHALL, ADVOCATE. Montreal: "WITNESS" PRINTING HOUSE, ST. JAMES STREET 1887
Dedicated
to
My Friends.
THOUGHTS, MOODS AND IDEALS. THE CONFUSED DAWN. YOUNG MAN
What are the Vision and the Cry
That haunt the new Canadian soul?
Dim grandeur spreads we know not why
O'er mountain, forest, tree and knoll,
And murmurs indistinctly fly.—
Some magic moment sure is nigh. ”